Denny Hamlin
FEDEX RACING EXPRESS FACTS
SAMSUNG 500 – TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

RACE INFO:
Event: Samsung 500
Date/Time: April 15, 2007 / 2 p.m. ET
Length: 1.5 miles
Shape: Quad-Oval
Banking: 24 degrees
Distance: 263 laps/501 miles
2006 winner: Kasey Kahne
2006 polesitter: Kasey Kahne

EXPRESS NOTES:
Hamlin Third at Martinsville, Sixth in Points: Denny Hamlin rode a strong car to a top-five finish at Martinsville last weekend to keep the #11 FedEx Racing team in the top-ten heading to Texas. Hamlin currently sits sixth in the standings, 190 points out of first and 126 points ahead of Jamie McMurray in 12th.

Hamlin’s Half-Century at Texas: Sunday’s Samsung 500 marks the 50th career start of Hamlin’s relatively young Nextel Cup career. On top of a record-setting rookie campaign in 2006, Hamlin has continued his high level of performance in 2007 adding to his impressive career stats through 49 races. To date, Hamlin has registered 3 wins, 5 pole awards, 10 top-five finishes and has posted top-ten finishes in half of his Cup starts (25 of 49).

“To be honest, two years ago I never would have guessed I would be where I am today so every milestone means a lot to me. From the very start I have had a great team and sponsor behind me and they have given me every opportunity to succeed in this sport. I just hope to build on the successes we have had so far because when you look around the garage it is the guys who have performed at a high level for a long time that you look up to.”

Hamlin Back in the Busch Series this Weekend at Texas: After taking Atlanta, Bristol and Nashville off, Hamlin will jump back into the seat of the #20 Busch Series entry at Texas Motor Speedway. The break from the Busch series is the first for Hamlin since he took the wheel at the start of the 2005 season, a string of 74 consecutive races.

Hamlin at Texas Motor Speedway: The Samsung 500 will be Hamlin’s fourth career start at Texas Motor Speedway in a NASCAR Nextel Cup car. Hamlin recorded a tenth-place finish at TMS last fall to stay in the thick of the Chase for the Nextel Cup. In the spring race, Hamlin qualified eighth and finished fourth for one of his six top-five finishes of the season. He made his debut at the track in November of 2005 on the same weekend he was introduced as the driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2006. Hamlin followed up the announcement by taking the checkered flag in seventh after starting 14th, recording his third top-ten finish in only his fifth career Cup start.

Express Fact: Both Hamlin’s average running position of 10.349 and driver rating of 101.3 at Texas Motor Speedway rank second among active drivers.

Texas Motor Speedway Chassis 121 & 146: This will be the first start of 2007 for Chassis 121 but this car was the #11 team’s workhorse in 2006. This car built its reputation by twice dominating the field at Pocono Raceway, leading 234 of a possible 400 laps, to give Hamlin his two career Cup wins. Most recently, Hamlin drove this car to third-place finish in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to clinch third place in the 2007 standings. Back up car JGR 146 is a new car for 2007 and has yet to start a Nextel Cup race.

QUOTES:
Hamlin on Texas Motor Speedway: “This has been a good track for us over the past two seasons so we are glad to be back here, and to be back here in the Monte Carlo. We have good notes from this track and they are all for the Monte Carlo so that should allow us to be a little ahead of the curve coming off the truck. Hopefully we can qualify well here again and use the practice time to fine tune for Sunday.

Texas is a really fast track, a tight track but you still have the opportunity to pass and that usually leads to a close finish here. I am glad to hear they fixed the bump over the tunnel for this race because it really did throw you when you went over it and you had to be aware of how it was going to affect your drive off. I had the chance to give rides around the track last fall and let some people feel that bump they had been hearing about leading up to the race. It was bad at 50 miles per hour; none of them could imagine it going any faster.”